The Detroit Free Press: The Last Folk Hero: A Player Collapsing in the Superbowl Land of Football and Gleason
Editor’s Note: Jeff Pearlman is the author of 10 books including his latest, “The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson.” His views are his own. Read more opinion on CNN.
It exists, in the archives of the Detroit Free Press, a harrowing black-and-white image that found itself atop page 1D of the Oct. 25, 1971 morning newspaper.
Hughes, 28, was pronounced dead after he had a blood clot in his heart that caused a heart attack. He is the only NFL player to die in a game.
The executive sports editor of the Free Press stated that when Dick Butkus waved to the Lions, it was obvious that Chuck Hughes was in serious trouble.
After Hamlin’s injury, a 53-year-old man in San Antonio, Texas received a text from his mother. You need to watch the football game. A PLAYER COLLAPSED.
The land of football is filled with soft drinks. There are potato chips. There are embroidered jerseys for $169 and $59 hats for $60 at NFL.com. Free shipping if you order ASAP!). There is a land with gambling apps and fantasy leagues as well as cheerleaders and adults dressed as foamy barnyard animals. The Superbowl is where the National Football League entices and pulls your dollars to see your suppressed aggressions on Sunday afternoons. It is very loud. POW and POP!
When the NFL rolled out, Brandon had to take a bad look at Hamlin’s legacy and tell him he didn’t
The officials knew Hughes had died when they arrived and took all of 10 minutes to decide if the action should continue.
In the aftermath of Hamlin’s collision with Bengals receiver Tee Higgins, one NFL-affiliated account after another tweeted that we must not watch the replay of the hit. That it’s too graphic; too disturbing; too disrespectful.
Some of the fans who agree with this are trying to show respect, but they started making it sound like drinking your soda was the official policy. You can eat Tostitos. Wear your foam finger. Just don’t focus upon the carnage.
The Monday Night Football telecast was the most watched in ESPN history. Over 23 million people tuned in. And over 23 million people did the same. Hamlin is being appreciated for his leadership. There were some things that were important for him, for his integrity and for being a helpful person. A person who runs in, when others run out. There is a charity created by Damar Hamlin which raises money to send toys to kids in need.
Brandon Hughes felt a lump in his throat when he saw what happened to Hamlin, because he was only one when his father died. Brandon, an employee at a mutual fund company, said everything they were saying was familiar to him. They talked about how unusual it was and that was the whole point. I wasn’t sure if they were right or not. It is not. Not at all.
Brandon Hughes referred to his mother as Sharon but was widowed at a young age. She sounded saddened—both by the uncertainty of Hamlin’s future and the familiar echoes of past tragedy.
The tragic accident that killed Kevin Carter in a Buffalo teammate: “I didn’t have to play that day,” he told Dion Dawkins
“How in the world were we living in a world where a player was tragically paralyzed during a game, and minutes later, the whistles blew, and the game played on as if nothing had happened?”
I told my wife that it was after she saw a tragic scene at a game in which I was playing. Kevin’s neck was snapped in two when he collided with a teammate on a kick return and he fell to the turf. She was one of the 70,000+ fans in the stadium who watched on in silence as Kevin fought for his life. He may have been saved by an emergency procedure. After he played, he never came back.
It was similar to what my wife did when she was in Buffalo many years ago, I started to feel a lot worse for the wear as the scene unfolded on Monday night. Mental wounds were reopened as haunting memories came flooding back in.
During my playing days in college, Kerry Carter collided with a teammate while trying to get away from a player. He was paralyzed from the neck down. Players cried, prayed, then played on. The paralysis he suffered in that day caused him to death two days after his 24th birthday. That collision still haunts my teammate to this day.
Kerry told me that it will take some time for everyone involved to come to terms with what happened. It’s crazy to look back now and think that we were able to continue playing.”
As athletes, we were always conditioned to ignore physical and mental pain. We learned not to focus on the negative because it can hinder optimal performance. We were taught to fight on with the same mentality whenever something bad happened. So, playing on, despite tragic injuries, was all we knew.
The game would not have been called off in the past. They would have said to get back on the field and lock in. Gotta play on.” But that didn’t happen.
Those coaches had a concern about their players mental health. After seeing the sad faces of their players, they decided it was not worth trying to continue the game.
Dion Dawkins said he was blessed that the Bills didn’t have to keep playing. Most people treat us athletes as superstars. They treated us like people, but they were like celebrities.
There are still some people, though, who think that the players should have continued playing. You don’t have to search very long on social media to find that some people care more about their fantasy football team’s performance than the health and well-being of their fellow man. I guess it’s to be expected. That’s the way it’s always been.
My two young sons played tackle playground football on a warm winter day, after I watched them. The New Year’s holiday was when they were off from school.
I was talking to another dad who like me played college football and has an 8-year-old son (one year older than my oldest). We chatted about his son’s first experience playing full tackle football in pads this fall. My son may not be allowed to hit that early. Maybe ever. I can’t.
But at the same time, I know football totally changed (and probably saved) my life in a way like nothing else has—except maybe the military. If you played or grew up around the game, it is an inner conflict that you do not know about. Or if you’ve served in uniform.
Why does my son play football? How to Explain it to folks who haven’t experienced it – read a piece written by Luke Zaleski
I have a hard time explaining it all to folks who haven’t experienced it. They’re not the same, but it often feels a bit like when I’m trying to explain why I joined the military to people who never did. Unless you have been there, it is hard to fully understand it all.
It’s difficult to communicate why we do it – what it feels like, the highs, why we love it so much despite the risks. Why we’d probably still have played even if we knew then what we know now.
Many parents wonder if I would play football if I joined the military. Less of both is the case each year. And for both, I recommend talking to smart, reflective people who’ve done it – and reading. Luke Zaleski explained at least some of it in GQ, in one of the best pieces I’ve seen, headlined: “What Kind of Father Lets His Son Play Football?”
The game was supposed to be a marquee match-up to end the last week of football in the regular season.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/opinions/damar-hamlin-cardiac-arrest-parents-rieckhoff/index.html
What Has Damar Hamlin Learned in his Own Memory, and What Has He Done Recently About Us, and Where Has He Come From?
Hamlin is kind and generous. His pain has galvanized a country that is so often divided. Especially this week. In this wrenching moment for him, for his family, for football, and for America, Damar Hamlin is inspiring others to be helpers too. And that is worth celebrating as we enter a new year.